Your brain hates your (recorded) voice. Here's why.

Why is your voice so much more pleasant and rich in your head than it is on a recording? That seems to be a question many people have the first time they hear their own voice played back for them. It would be one thing if everyone's voices sounded different, but voices that aren't your own sound the same in person and on tape. It turns out there's a reason for that, and as AsapTHOUGHT explains, it's all in your head. Well, your skull, anyway.

Basically, when you hear any voice (or sound) that's not your own, it arrives through the air. Pressure waves caused by the sound tickle little hairs that are attached to little hammer-like bones in your inner ear, and this makes them twitch and send a signal to your nerves. Thus, a physical signal (sound waves) is turned into an electrochemical signal for your brain to interpret.

But when you speak, that sound originates from inside your own body. "Duh," you say, but that has an effect. Low frequencies (lower-pitched noises) travel better through solids than they do through the air. Your body is solid. Those deeper notes in your voice vibrate through your bones directly into your ear canal, shaking those same inner ear hammers. It's like cranking up the bass in your car: that sound was already part of the original voice, but you're highlighting the lower end of the spectrum when your skull acts as an amplifier.

The video goes on to explain how women's voices change depending on the time of the month, and how both men and women speak differently to try and be sexy. If you think listening to your voice is irritating now, just try listening to a tape of you attempting to sound sexy.